The Watchman On The Wall

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Verse 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Jupiter is called the "King of Planets," "Guardian Planet," "Cosmic-Protector," and "Father-Protector," by some scientists. Nearly everyone agrees that Jupiter plays a big role in earth's survival. But then, we know it's no coincidence our solar system is made the way it is. We believers know Who our "Father-Protector" is.

Astronomers believe that Jupiter's "overbearing gravity" acts as a shield, deflecting space junk away from the inner solar system where we humans reside. Anthony Wesley, the Australian amateur astronomer who first noticed the mark on Jupiter, said, "If anything like that had hit the Earth it would have been curtains for us, so we can feel very happy that Jupiter is doing its vacuum-cleaner job and hoovering up all these large pieces before they come for us." Brian G. Marsden of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, disagrees saying Jupiter is just as much a menace as a savior, noting that "the big planet throws a lot of comets out of the solar system, but it also throws them in."The Hubble space telescope trained its new camera on the atmospheric disturbance on Jupiter. A comet or asteroid impact is believed to have caused the disturbance on Jupiter.

Amy Simon-Miller of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland said,"Because we believe this magnitude of impact is rare, we are very fortunate to see it with Hubble. Details seen in the Hubble view show a lumpiness to the debris plume caused by turbulence in Jupiter's atmosphere."

Astronomers cannot be absolutely sure Jupiter was struck by a space object, but the evidence seems compelling. The scar emerged on 19 July. One estimate of the diameter of the impacting body suggests it may have been hundreds of meters wide.

It is 15 years since Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 struck Jupiter. The comet broke up into several pieces as it plunged on to the gas giant. There was prior warning of that event.

SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS

Consider the Bibilical passages below:

The Day of the LORD28 "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood (See my article on Tetrads) before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.32 And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls. Joel 2:28-32

None of us has any idea when the Last Days will occur even though a multitude of geopolitical, heavenly, human, diseases, weather and other phenomena are warning us. These events are occurring all around us but most us barely take notice. These events are consistent with the Bible’s prophetic writings. We must be cautious and not speculate wildly. Let’s prayerfully analyze these times, and follow our Lord Jesus Christ/Yeshua to do now what we know is right according to the Scriptures. I do know Jesus Christ has made us a promise that is illustrated in the next Bible passage.

8 I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,10 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:8-11

Yeshua said only his father knew when the Last Days would occur. I do not want to repeat the mistake of William Miller who predicted in 1818 that in “about” twenty-five years, 1843, Jesus Christ would come again. Miller believed that the Last Days could be known by all people who desired to understand and prepare themselves for Jesus Christ’s coming. Miller wrote, “I am fully convinced that some time between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844, according to the Jewish mode of computation of time, Christ will come and bring all His saints with Him; and that then He will reward every man as His work shall be.”

Later in life Miller wrote, “I confess my error, and acknowledge my disappointment.” I believe Miller was a sincere Christian who wrongly calculated as he said “the Day of the Lord.”

16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words. I Thessalonians 4:16-18

28When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Luke 21:28

SIGNS OF THE LAST DAYS1Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." 3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" 4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[a]' and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 15"So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. 18Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 19How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. 25See, I have told you ahead of time. 26"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. 29"Immediately after the distress of those days" 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' 30"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 32"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

I want to emphasize that the Lord does not want us to quit working in the Last Days consider the passage below 4As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. John 9:4

THE DAY AND HOUR UNKNOWN36"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 42"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. 45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' 49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 24:1-51

5Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6"As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down." 7"Teacher," they asked, "when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?" 8He replied: "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them. 9When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away." 10Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. 12"But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13This will result in your being witnesses to them. 14But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17All men will hate you because of me. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By standing firm you will gain life. 20"When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. 21Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. 22For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 23How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. 25"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." 29He told them this parable: "Look at the fig tree (Israel) and all the trees. 30When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32"I tell you the truth, this generation[a] will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 34"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man." Luke 21:5-36Footnotes: [a]Luke 21:32 Or race

My friends I believe we will see an increase in these heavenly signs. Yeshua is ringing your door bell or knocking on your door. Are you at home? Are you listening for his knock and the doorbell? I believe nothing happens by serependipity. Look for the signs and repent because things in this world are only going to get worse. Quite frankly it is time for Yeshua to come back with his sword of justice.

In 2000 our nation was thrown into constitutional turmoil because of our presidential election

In 2008/2009 our nation was plunged into the sub-prime crisis

In 2009 our government began going on a spending binge that could cause the U.S. to declare bankruptcy

In 2009 President Obama tells the Israelis to divide Israel and Jerusalem; if we divide Israel God will divide the U.S.

In 2009 the Swine Flu began to spread across the world

What crisis, disaster, or catastrophe will have to occur in the U.S. in order for God to get our attention?

The Awakening America Alliance is a cooperative initiative within the body of Christ to increase awareness of the deep spiritual need in today’s America and to pursue a new Christ awakening in our nation that will impact our world.The Awakening America Alliance will seek to

Provide a broad umbrella under which the body of Christ in America can unite together in seeking a contemporary spiritual awakening.

Issue a wake-up call for revival in the church and a Christ awakening in the nation by utilizing unified activity, various forms of media, and highly visible events.

Collaborate together in prayer, fasting, and God inspired action to impact the nation’s non-Christian population.

Challenge today’s church in welcoming and discipling new generations of American youth.

For more information go to the CBN.COM website

History of America’s Great Awakenings Early American colonists began their life in the “new world” with dreams of religious freedom. Because of their influence on following generations, the United States has been marked by periods of increased spiritual fervor, many of which have transcended denominational, racial, and gender barriers while subsequently impacting the country’s social and political climate.

First Great Awakening The roots of America’s First Great Awakening can be traced to European Christians in the early 18th century, particularly among splinter groups that emerged from the Protestant Reformation, such as the Moravians, German Lutherans, and Anabaptists. In England, individuals such as George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley helped initiate the beginnings of the Great Awakening through their emphasis on the deeper spiritual life as outlined in New Testament Christianity. In addition to their message, their effectiveness was due, in part, to their itinerant preaching in fields and other open-air venues, believing that more people would hear the Gospel message and accept Christ outside the confines of a church building than within it. It was a renewal movement that simplified the gospel message and embraced the common man by making the gospel more accessible and applicable to everyday life. Whitefield and the Wesley Brothers each traveled to America to preach to colonists in the 1700s, which helped plant Europe’s Great Awakening in American soil. The spiritual climate was fertile among American colonies, and it was not uncommon for these early meetings to attract tens of thousands participants. The efforts of Whitefield and the Wesley Brothers built on the foundation of American Puritans and Pietists, as well as other European evangelists who had traveled to the American colonies prior to their arrival. In addition, Jonathan Edwards, an American-born Congregationalist preacher, widely remembered for his fiery sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, emerged as one of the leading voices in America’s First Great Awakening. Through his writing and preaching, Edwards offered everyone the choice for redemption and salvation, much to the dismay of religious conservatives of his day.The First Great Awakening sparked spiritual renewal among American colonists by suggesting that redemption was available to everyone who would accept it, and often relaying this message through passionate preaching that was intensely convicting of personal sin. Consequently, thousands of Americans exchanged sinful practices for lifestyles aligned with Scripture, and it liberated individuals to share the gospel message with others on a personal level. As a result, the impact of the Great Awakening transformed American culture and life for decades to come.

Second Great Awakening At the dawn of the 19th century, several Christian denominations in America were experiencing internal unrest concerning what many believed to be a waning spiritual condition within the country and its churches. It was during this time that Charles Finney emerged as a passionate, yet sometimes controversial, preacher whose practices included allowing laity, including women, to take part in worship services. Some considered Finney’s practices to be less-orderly because he conducted “protracted” (or long-drawn-out) revival meetings for as long as individuals responded to the preaching. As the young country expanded westward, the need for spiritual renewal in these areas became evident. Several “protracted” camp meetings were conducted in these frontier areas, with the most well-known being the 1801 Cane Ridge meeting in the Cumberland River Valley of Kentucky. Clergyman Barton Stone organized the revival and was assisted by Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian ministers. Unique to this meeting were numerous physical manifestations, such as men and women falling into trances, dancing, and even trembling uncontrollably as moved upon by the Holy Spirit. However, the new spiritual fervor was not limited only to such demonstrations of ecstasy and wonderment, for the Second Great Awakening also extended into the more refined religious circles of the Northeast, where the initial Great Awakening had first transformed America’s spiritual conscience more than a half-century earlier. In addition, numerous initiatives can be traced to the renewal of the Second Great Awakening, including educational endeavors, such as Sunday schools and seminaries, the temperance movement, the establishment of the American Bible Society, and social services for the underprivileged. The fruit of this awakening period also allowed evangelical churches to rise to a place of prominence in American spirituality and public life.

Holiness Movement Beginning in the 1830s, Methodism was increasing in America, and it numbered more than one-million members by the 1840s. As a result, Methodists were key contributors to another period of American renewal known as the Holiness Movement. The movement derived its name because of Methodists’ emphasis on Christian perfection, or holiness, based on their belief in sanctification as a “second blessing” subsequent to salvation as promoted by John Wesley. Desiring holiness of heart and lifestyle, which would be manifested through one’s love for God and neighbor, the Holiness Movement quickly spread throughout the United States. Popular preachers of this revival period included James Caughey, John S. Inskip, and Dwight L. Moody, as well as numerous prominent women preachers, such as Phoebe Palmer and Amanda Smith, a prominent African-American holiness evangelist. In addition, Charles Finney, who also preached sanctification but from a non-Wesleyan perspective, helped lead individuals from more Reformed traditions into the Holiness Movement. In 1867 the first holiness camp meeting was conducted in New Jersey and was soon followed by similarly successful meetings in other states. A prominent holiness association was formed, which helped propel the holiness message into an international movement.

This period of renewal embraced the philosophy that social and political reforms were equally vital to the nation’s spiritual condition. As a result, those impacted by this movement promoted a social gospel that included confronting unfair labor conditions of children and women and seeking to prohibit alcohol. In addition to speaking out against societal ills, Christian organizations initiated alternative programs, such as increasing educational opportunities, sponsoring healing homes for recovering addicts and the physically ill, establishing orphanages and soup kitchens, and organizing youth centers, such as the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). The Holiness Movement was characterized by an emphasis on Christian perfection that, they believed, would help usher in the return of Christ by transforming society into a people practicing righteousness, both individually and corporately.

Prayer Movement In 1857 Jeremiah Lanphier, a layman, was appointed by New York City’s North Reformed Protestant Dutch Church to begin an outreach ministry to the unchurched. One of his initiatives was leading a noonday prayer meeting each Wednesday for area residents, including everyone from merchants to businessmen. A Miracle occurred and beginning on September 23, 1857, attendance increased quickly and the prayer services soon relocated to the Fulton Street Church, where the meetings were held daily. The prayer services were comprised mainly by a diverse group of laity and included singing, impromptu prayers and testimonies, and scripture reading, all of which were conducted in a solemn and orderly manner. Soon the Fulton Street Church was filled to capacity as some 700 individuals, including men and women of varying socioeconomic status, met to pray. As local newspapers began reporting the prayer services, churches among different denominations began conducting similar meetings. Soon the overflow crowds began to meet in other venues within NYC, including community meeting halls and theaters. Because of the popularity of the prayer meetings, area businesses soon closed for an extended period around the lunch hour. Laity began sharing their faith with others, large numbers of individuals accepted Christ, attendance increased at area churches, and an estimated total of 10,000 individuals attended the services each day. In addition, conversions numbered in the tens of thousands weekly, including students in local schools and even college campuses. Individuals from other states attended the prayer services and returned home to begin similar prayer meetings in such locations as Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. The spiritual fervor even spread among slaves in Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas.

This Prayer Revival of 1857-58 was a spontaneous move of the Holy Spirit in which laity played a key role without any one personality dominating the prayer movement. It was a divine work of God that spread through the United States and across the sea as common men and women began to experience spiritual renewal as a result of spending time together in unity and prayer. Its impact on American spirituality was evident for almost fifty years.

Pentecostal Awakening In the late 1800s, holiness churches began to experience various spiritual manifestations similar to those experienced at the Cane Ridge meeting of the Second Great Awakening. Often holiness adherents referred to their sanctification experience as the “baptism of the Holy Ghost”, according to the biblical term found in the New Testament. However, because of their deep consecration to God and devotion to spiritual disciplines, holiness adherents saw a reappearance of spiritual gifts, including instantaneous physical healings and individuals’ ability to speak in languages unknown to them. Numerous occurrences are recorded of “sanctified” individuals speaking in these unknown languages, such as in 1891 when Daniel Awrey spoke in tongues in Delaware, Ohio, and his wife experienced tongues-speech in 1899 in Beniah, Tennessee. Studying the New Testament, these individuals discovered similar spiritual gifts were commonplace among the early Christians. Other instances include a 1901 outpouring at Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, in which the teacher, Charles Fox Parham, and several students began speaking in tongues. Parham then suggested that speaking in other tongues was the Bible evidence of the “baptism of the Holy Ghost” in accordance with the experience of Jesus’ early apostles on the Day of Pentecost, as described in the second chapter of the Book of Acts.

Each of these occurrences was a precursor to the major outpouring in Los Angeles, California, in April 1906. There, William J. Seymour, an African-American holiness evangelist who learned of the Holy Spirit baptism from Parham, led a prayer group of individuals seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit in a home on Bonnie Brae Street. After individuals began to receive the experience, the services were relocated to a small mission on Azusa Street. News reporters soon began to publish reports of the revival’s happenings in newspapers throughout the world. From 1906 to 1909, continuous services were held at the Azusa Street mission, where people of various races, social status, and denominational affiliations worshiped together with spiritual fervor and received the Holy Spirit baptism with speaking in tongues. These early Spirit-filled believers considered everyone to be witnesses, and many sailed to foreign lands as missionaries to share the gospel message. What happened at Azusa Street helped renew Christianity, bringing fresh vision and passion to the Great Commission. Consumed with zeal for God and empowered by the Holy Spirit, individuals have taken the Word of God to diverse villages and races across the globe. As a result many have learned of the love and grace of Christ, ultimately preparing the world for His return.

Charismatic Awakening and the Jesus Movement In the early years of the modern Pentecostal revival, individuals receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit accompanied by tongues-speech were often excommunicated from their denominational churches. Eventually new Pentecostal fellowships were formed, such as the Assemblies of God, Church of God students in 1967. By the 1970s virtually every denomination in America had some level of Charismatic or Pentecostal expression, although not all denominational leaders embraced the Charismatic Renewal.

However, new impetus was given to the Charismatic movement when large numbers of counter-culture hippies accepted Christ and various spiritual gifts typical to Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. While most Pentecostals and other mainline denominations found the appearance of converted hippies unacceptable, the Charismatic Movement welcomed them into their churches, especially the Calvary Chapel churches. Hundreds of hippies began to accept Christ weekly, bringing with them their unique style of music and worship and becoming known as “Jesus People” or “Jesus Freaks.” Labeled as America’s Fourth Great Awakening, the Jesus Movement invigorated the Charismatic Movement and eventually impacted both Pentecostal and many mainline denominations. Today Pentecostal and Charismatic adherents number more than a half billion throughout the world and comprise the fastest-growing segment within Christianity.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

It is a sad state of affairs when a major terrorist is taken out and it gets little or no coverage in the U.S. media but the U.S. has hurt Osama bin Laden (UBL) terribly. Saad bin Laden, son of UBL the Al-Qaeda (AQ) chief, is the latest AQ member to be killed in an American drone strike in Pakistan's north-west frontier earlier this year.

Counter terrorism experts acknowledge that in the case of AQ the best strategy is a constant offensive punch that decapitates the leadership with deadly UAV attacks.

The US official acknowledged that it would be difficult to be completely sure of Saad's identity without a body to carry out DNA tests.

Earlier this year, a former US spy chief, Mike McConnell, said Saad, who is alleged to have worked for AQ in Iran, either escaped or was released from house arrest in Iran and was likely to be in Pakistan.

He played a prominent coordinating role between AQ and the government of Iran, where he is believed to have been arrested in 2003 after he sought sanctuary there after fleeing from Pakistan in 2001. Several high-ranking AQ members are allegedly under house arrest in Iran and direct AQ terrorist operations, logistics and other operations from inside Iran.

Saad allegedly helped facilitate communication between AQ's number two leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), following an AQ attack on the US embassy in Yemen in 2008.

In January 2009 the US Treasury Department froze the assets of Saad and three other AQ operatives.

Saad is one UBL's 19 children by four wives. Another son is Hamza bin Laden, 17, the youngest son of the AQ leader, was said to be the leader of one of four gangs of "designated assassins" sent to kill Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister.

He featured in a joint Taliban and AQ video, shot in 2001, entitled The Mujahideen of Waziristan, where he is shown participating in an assault on Pakistani security forces in the south Waziristan tribal area.

US forces have stepped up their drone attacks in Pakistan since last September, targeting Taliban and AQ-linked militants in areas bordering Afghanistan. It is not clear whether Saad was close to the location of his father but it is known that Saad was not the target of the attack and U.S. forces may not have known he was present at the location. UBL is believed to be hiding in the violent Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) belt along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Saad was killed in that area of Waziristan. Officials at the CIA and the Tampa, Florida-based U.S. Central Command, (CENTCOM) which oversees U.S. military operations in the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, have not confirmed the report.

Saad, supposedly in his 20s and an AQ member was the designated heir apparent to UBL. He is believed to have fled Afghanistan shortly after the U.S. invasion of that land-locked country in October of 2001.

Darwin and his controversial theory were dealt another blow this week. Contemporary scientific discoveries continue to confound his disciples.

Conventional evolutionary wisdom has it that the first animals evolved in the ocean, or a marine environment without any divine assistance. Well, researchers have found that the first animal fossils are preserved in ancient lake deposits, not in marine sediments as scientists commonly assume.

These new findings not only raise questions as to where the earliest animals were living, but what factors drove animals to evolvein the first place.I regularly find it amazing how God confounds our human reasoning and assumptions. For example, human reasoning says for some 3 billion years, single-celled life forms such as bacteria dominated the planet. Then, roughly 600 million years ago, the first multi-cellular animals appeared on the scene, diversifying rapidly.

The oldest known animal fossils in the world are preserved in South China's Doushantuo Formation. These fossil beds have no adult specimens - instead, many of the fossils appear to be microscopic embryos."Our first unusual finding in this region was the abundance of a clay mineral called smectite," said researcher Tom Bristow, now at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "In rocks of this age, smectite is normally transformed into other types of clay. The smectite in these South China rocks, however, underwent no such transformation and have a special chemistry that, for the smectite to form, requires specific conditions in the water - conditions commonly found in salty, alkaline lakes."The researchers collected hundreds of rock samples from several locations in South China. THESE ROCKS WERE NOT MARINE SEDIMENTS!

"Moreover, we found smectite in only some locations in South China, and not uniformly as one would expect for marine deposits," Bristow said. "Taken together, several lines of evidence indicated to us that these early animals lived in a lake environment."Some scientists are shocked and surprised - This discovery raises questions as to how and why animals appeared when they did."It is most unexpected that these first fossils do not come from marine sediments," said researcher Martin Kennedy, a geologist at the University of California at Riverside. "Lakes are typically short-lived features on the Earth's surface, and they are not nearly as consistent environments as oceans are," he explained. "So it's surprising that the first evidence of animals we find is associated with lakes, which are far more variable environments than the ocean. You'd expect the first appearance of animals to be in the most conservative, stable environments we could imagine."It remains possible, Kennedy noted, that animal fossils of similar or older age exist that remain to be found that are marine in origin. However, at the very least, this work suggests "that animals had already taken on the ability to deal with the environmental fluctuations one sees in lake environments," he said. "That suggests that their evolutionary response is much more rapid that I would have supposed, and that the earliest animals were far more diverse than imagined." If animals did first develop in lakes, one aspect of lake environments that could have spurred on their evolution is how much easier it is for air or oxygen to percolate through them, given how much shallower they typically are than the ocean."The most popular explanation for the evolution of animalshas to do with the increase in oxygen in Earth's atmosphere at that time," Kennedy told LiveScience. "It's possible that lakes were the first to benefit from that increase in oxygen."

The scientists detailed their findings online July 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“You ain’t safe nowhere these days!” A quote from Boyd's neighbor in North Carolina.

The Boyd case underscores the fact that the U.S., Canada and Latin America are loaded with Al Qaeda moles. It is hard to believe that the Boyds were not discovered until recently and only because an informant gave the government information concerning the Boyds. Daniel Patrick Boyd’s terrorist ties go back to the days when the Soviets fought in Afghanistan in the late 1980s, unbelievable!

Saifullah was holding Friday prayers in his home and his neighbors did not notice!

Why didn’t our Pakistani friends tell us or remind us about this guy? The Boyds went before a special Pakistani Government Islamic court. Didn’t the Pakistanis pass that information to the U.S. embassy in Pakistan? How did these guys get out of Pakistan without our government knowing it? I am not certain but I believe in the late 1980s and early 1990s it was illegal for an American to travel to Pakistan under Pakistani law. Why weren’t the Boyds on the No Fly List?

After all, American Daniel Patrick Boyd and his brother faced stern a punishment after being convicted of robbing a bank in Pakistan: The Boyds were looking at losing a hand and foot under harsh Pakistani Islamic law.

When the Pakistanis arrested the Boyd brothers, they were carrying identification showing they belonged to the radical Afghan guerrilla group, Hezb-e-Islami, or Party of Islam. They had become the first foreigners to be convicted and sentenced by special Islamic courts set up by the conservative federal government to impose speedy trials for so-called "heinous" crimes.

In 1991 in Pakistan, Daniel Boyd and his older brother denied they were guilty of stealing $3,200 from the bank. When the sentence was imposed, Boyd shouted: "This isn't an Islamic court. It's a court of infidels!"

The Boyds avoided the sentence when their conviction was overturned. Two decades later, the 39-year-old Boyd is accused of organizing a group in the U.S. with international terrorist connections and he faces life in prison if convicted.

On Wednesday, July 22, 2009, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina returned a sealed seven-count indictment against the following defendants:

Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina

Hysen Sherifi, 24, a native of Kosovo and a U.S. legal permanent resident located in North Carolina; the Balkans have historically been a hotbed of Al Qaeda and jihadist activity.

Anes Subasic, 33, a naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina

Zakariya Boyd, 20, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina

Dylan Boyd, 22, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina

Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina

Ziyad Yaghi, 21, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina

An 8th defendant (apparently unnamed) is at large.

Boyd's time in Pakistan included terrorist training. The last three years he recruited followers willing to die as martyrs waging jihad. Seven members of the group, including Boyd and two adult sons, were arrested on 27 July 2009 and charged with providing material support to terrorism and "conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad."

Authorities would not detail what the group was targeting overseas. They provided money, training, transportation and men to help terrorists. Boyd and some of the others traveled to Israel in June 2007 intending to wage "violent jihad," but returned home without success, the indictment said.

Boyd lived at an unassuming lakeside home in a rural area south of Raleigh, where he and his family operated a drywall business.

Jim Stephenson, a neighbor in Willow Spring, said he often saw the Boyd family walking their dog. The indictment shocked neighbors. "We never saw anything to give any clues that something like that could be going on in their family," Stephenson said.

Boyd has been a terrorist for a long time. He was in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1989 through 1992. He trained in terrorist camps in Afghanistan and fought the Soviets, who occupied Afghanistan.

It is unclear when he and his family returned to the U.S., but in March 2006, Boyd traveled to Gaza and attempted to introduce his son to individuals who also believed that jihad was a personal religious obligation, the indictment said. The document did not say which son Boyd took to Gaza.

The others charged are Anes Subasic, 33; Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22; and Ziyad Yaghi, 21. Hysen Sherifi, 24, a native of Kosovo and a U.S. legal permanent resident was also charged in the case. He was the only person arrested who was not a U.S. citizen.

The men's wives, also Americans, said that they had come to Pakistan in 1989 and that the United States was a country of "kafirs" or heathens. The wives refused to answer questions about their husbands' links to the Afghan or Islamic hirabists, though they did say their husbands embraced Islam nine years earlier.

Boyd's wife, Sabrina, had three sons with her in Pakistan at the time of the sentencing: 3-year-old Zakariya, 1-year-old Luqman and 5-year-old Mohammed. The indictment filed in North Carolina says Dylan Boyd is also known as Mohammed.

Although court documents indicate that prosecutors will introduce evidence gathered under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Several of the defendants, including Boyd and his sons, also face firearms charges. The indictment says they had obtained a variety of weapons from handguns to rifles.The indictment also alleges that Daniel Boyd obtained a variety of weapons in furtherance of the conspiracy to murder persons overseas and provide material support to terrorists. These included a Bushmaster M4A3 rifle that Boyd allegedly received illegally via interstate commerce in 2006, as well as an ETA M16 V System C-MAG that he purchased in 2006. In 2007, he allegedly purchased a Ruger mini 14 long gun.

The indictment further alleges that in February 2009, Daniel Boyd and his son, Dylan Boyd, knowingly sold a Beretta 9 mm handgun and ammunition to a convicted felon. In addition, the indictment alleges that in June 2009, Daniel Boyd and his son, Zakariya Boyd, used firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence, specifically conspiracy to murder.

The indictment also alleges that Daniel Boyd and several of the defendants practiced military tactics and the use of weapons on private property in Caswell County, N.C., in June and July 2009.

In July 2008, Sherifi left for Kosovo to engage in jihad. He returned to North Carolina in April 2009 to solicit funds and warriors to support the mujahedeen, but again the indictment did not give details. In October 2006, Yaghi went to Jordan to engage in jihad, according to the indictment.

These charges hammer home the point that terrorists and their supporters are not confined to the remote regions of some far away land but can grow and fester right here at home. Terrorists and their supporters are relentless and constant in their efforts to hurt and kill innocent people across the globe.

The threat that extremists and radicals pose to America and our allies has not dulled or gone away. These arrests today show there are people living among us, in our communities in North Carolina and around the U.S., that are honing their skills to carry out acts of murder and mayhem. Their ultimate goal is to wage war on freedom and democracy.

For some of us September 11th is not a vague memory, nor should it be for anyone. We should all remain vigilant to the Islamic threat.